Saturday, January 12, 2008

Relationship building.

Phot credit: http://www.free-stockphotos.com

As we all know the Internet has brought many new things into our lives. We can chat with people from just about any country in the world, get information, make web pages, post pictures and even form relationships. It's this last Idea that I'd like to concentrate on.

Before I begin, let's realize that there are guidelines and definitions for relationships, but we may get confused if we look them up on Google as there are way too many and not all of them agree. I tend to be one of those people that watch interactions between people, couples. I think in general that we all have enough information about relationships based from our own, and maybe more importantly, from others to make some important judgements through common sense. So where do we begin then? Well, let's be honest with ourselves shall we? Hey, that's a great guideline!

1. Be honest with ourselves.What are we looking for in a relationship? What do we expect from the other person? How much are we willing or able to give of ourselves to that person? We can and should be critical here because the only feelings we are going to hurt, if any, will be ours. Who knows us better than ourselves?If we can decide on questions like these then we will have a good basis or solid foundation to begin dealing with someone else honestly. This brings us to our second guideline.

2. Be honest with others.We can ask the same type questions as in guideline #1. It may be, for some, a bit more difficult to follow this guideline, but it is most certainly worth it! Let's face it, if we aren't truthful to that person, most likely they're going to find out in the future and what ramifications can that bring to the relationship?

3. Expectations.Do you want to marry a rock star? A millionaire? A faithful person? Do you want a mansion in the suburbs? You're own business with that person? Five children and a dog?No matter what your dreams or expectations are, try to put them into perspective. Any of these things can be, but what is the reality?

If we can bring just these three guidelines into our lives, we are well on the way to a positive and more successful relationship. There are other points to think about as well, but for now let's call these three guidelines the "Core" of a successful relationship.

Let's take this stuff slowly because relationships are really important and really worth it! I'll be expanding on this core in future articles, but for now, just think about them and how they have fit in with your relationships, and if they didn't, then why?